Show Off Saturday: a WIP to volunteer for

I’ve discovered a wonderful benefit to my current project. Anytime someone invites me to do something I don’t want to do, all I have to say is

‘Sorry, I’m volunteering for the kids’ school today.’

Then I look like a saint while I go home to putter around my studio sewing! Maybe I should admit to you that I’m a hermit. I’d much rather stay at home and sew than anything else.

A few days before school started, Cadie’s 1st grade teacher called me on the phone with a request. I guess she had heard through the grapevine that I sew. 🙂

Heidi's Seat Stash cover — Heidi’s Seat Stash cover

She wants little chair cover pockets for all of her students’ chairs. No problem. Now I only had to decide how simple or elaborate I wanted to make them. Since I promised her 20, I couldn’t make them too fancy. But I didn’t want them to be flimsy or cheap either. I sent her a picture of the adorable ‘Seat Stash‘ that Heidi of Fabricmutt made.

The teacher loved Heidi’s version, but asked for two pockets that are larger than the one in the picture.

And since I won’t have time to lovingly quilt each pocket (a sweet touch, right?), I changed the pocket design.

I went back to the school and measured the chairs to get the dimensions just right, plus I asked about fabric. She said she wasn’t picky… So here are the fabrics I pulled from my stash:

You know you’re in trouble when pulling 20 yards off your shelves barely makes a dent. I keep waiting for a cubby to empty out so I can have an excuse to visit my local quilt shop. But it doesn’t happen (let’s blame online fabric shopping). I’m honestly very glad for a project like this so I can use up some yardage on a good cause.

All I have been doing since sewing and testing the first prototype (fit like a glove!) is cutting. Lots and lots of cutting.

Hopefully I’ll be finished with the chair pockets by the end of next week. I’ll probably put together a tutorial since my design has already deviated quite a bit from Heidi’s darling project. Hers is way cuter, but mine is faster to sew and has 2 pockets. 😉

So, what have you been sewing up this week? Did you make something with one of my free sewing tutorials or patterns? I would love to see! Tag me on Instagram @sewcanshe.

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Happy Sewing!

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Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂